Accord Rejects Olawepo-Hashim as Presidential Candidate, Returns N50m Fee

Accord’s national leadership said on Wednesday that it does not recognize Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election. The party said it did not hold a presidential primary and did not produce any candidate for the election.

Maxwell Mgbuden, the party’s National Chairman, made this clear in a statement released in Abuja.

This statement comes two days after Olawepo-Hashim’s media office announced that he was the party’s candidate following what they called affirmation primaries. They claimed there was a large turnout of party members and supporters from different states.

Mgbuden insisted that the event that produced Olawepo-Hashim was not recognized by the national leadership. He described it as just a gathering organized by his supporters.

He said, “The purported presidential primary where he emerged as the ‘presidential candidate of Accord’ as widely reported in the national media was not conducted by our great party and has no effect whatsoever. It was a fanfare by his supporters, which should not be misconstrued as the party’s presidential primary. It was not.”

The chairman stressed that there was no valid presidential aspirant during the period set in the party’s guidelines and timetable submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He noted that while many aspirants bought nomination forms for governorship, National Assembly, and state legislative positions, no one completed the process to contest for the presidency within the approved timeframe.

Accord stated that Olawepo-Hashim only showed interest in running for president through a letter dated May 26, 2026, after the deadline for submitting and screening aspirants had passed.

“As a result, the electoral umpire was duly notified of the cancellation of the party’s scheduled presidential primary,” the statement added.

Mgbuden also mentioned that Olawepo-Hashim made payments totaling N50 million to the party after the nomination process had closed. This included N10 million for the expression of interest form and N40 million for the nomination form.

“It was after the elapse of the party’s timeframe for the purchase of the expression of interest and nomination forms as well as the screening of any aspirant for president that Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim paid for the said forms into the party’s bank account,” the statement said.

The party instructed its bankers to return the payments to the originating account because they could not process them under a nomination exercise that was already closed.

“In keeping with Accord’s cherished principles of transparency, accountability, and due process, the party instructed its bankers to reverse the payments of N10,000,000 and N40,000,000, expression of interest and nomination forms fees respectively to the originating bank,” it stated.

Accord also rejected Olawepo-Hashim’s claim that he should automatically be the party’s candidate because no other aspirant sought the ticket. It emphasized that following its nomination procedures is necessary, no matter how many aspirants there are.

“The absence of other aspirants would not dispense with these mandatory conditions nor confer automatic entitlement to nomination,” Mgbuden argued.

The leadership also said it officially communicated its position to Olawepo-Hashim in a letter dated May 31. The letter explained that his expression of interest and petition could not be processed because they were submitted after the approved timeframe.

“For now, Accord has no presidential candidate for the 2027 general election. The party, however, nominated candidates for governorship and legislative offices,” Mgbuden concluded.